Justin Bieber hashtag hijacked by Islamic State

Islamic State continued their recruitment efforts via social media, this time latching onto the Justin Bieber hashtag to show an execution and martyrdom propaganda video to millions.

Islamic State are true beliebers

21-year-old Justin Bieber has almost 74,000,000 followers on Twitter, more than the entire population of the United Kingdom. It was these young users that terror group Islamic State (Daesh) were targeting with their latest propaganda video.

Using the #JustinBieber hashtag, along with #ISIS and #ISIL the group posted tweets showing a 15 minute, professionally produced video entitled, “Message to Islamic West”.

Islamic State’s tweet

The propaganda video, which includes footage of the execution of four men shot in the back of the head as they kneel on the ground with their hands in restraints, tries to push the rhetoric of why joining Islamic State and getting in line to blow yourself up is a fantastic idea.

The video also features a ‘martyrdom’ (suicide) attack with an Islamic State fighter driving an explosive-laden laden vehicle into an enemy base before detonating it, proving that practise does make perfect.

Using social media as a recruitment tool has proved an effective tactic for Islamic State. An initial ‘Foreign fighters in Syria’ report by the Soufan Group, a private security intelligence service based in New York, estimates there are approximately 12,000 foreign fighters from 81 countries currently in Syria.

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